Vladimir Kramnik claimed victory in the FIDE World Cup after he drew the fourth classical game in the final match against Dmitry Andreikin. The overall score in the match was 2.5:1.5 in Kramnik's favor. The former World Champion won the first game of the final match while the other three games finished in a draw.

In the second game of the final Vladimir Kramnik made a draw with Black against Dmitry Andreikin and leads the match 1.5:0.5. Despite the game finishing in a draw it was an exciting fight which started right in the opening. Dmitry missed an interesting opportunity on the 15th move and later on didn’t get another chance to fight for more than a draw.

Vladimir Kramnik managed to win the first game of the match against his compatriot Dmitry Andreikin. The evaluation was equal after the opening but it was obvious that Kramnik obtained his type of position and would try to exploit its small advantages. The key moment came on the 29th move when the former World Champion sacrificed his queen for rook, bishop and a dangerous passed c-pawn.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave lost the first game with White against Vladimir Kramnik and former world champion didn’t give him chances to even the score in the second one. Dmitri Andreikin and Evgeny Tomashevsky drew the first rapid game but current Russian Champion defeated his opponent in the second game. Two Russians Kramnik and Andreikin will meet in the final.

Tomashevsky didn’t manage to get any advantage with White and players agreed for a draw before the first time control. Vladimir Kramnik had winning chances in the endgame against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but didn’t use the mistake of his opponent. After 125 moves the game also finished in a draw.

Vladimir Kramnik checked few different chess sets and in order to find the ideal pieces.

His opponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was helping to compare bishops and pawns.

In a few minutes the round has started. The new look of the playing hall. Two weeks ago there were 64 boards and only two of them were busy today. Vladimir Kramnik obtained slight edge from the opening and managed to convert it into the rooks and knights endgame with three White’s pawns against two Black’s pawns on the king’s side. “It was close to a draw all the game objectively but White has lot of threats and it’s quite annoying position for Black,” commented Vladimir Kramnik. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave confirmed it was tough game and it was hard for him to defend all the time. “At one point I started to go crazy and could not calculate anything,” pointed out French player. 56…Rh1 was a mistake which could cost him the game. After 56…Nd6 Vladimir Kramnik didn’t see the way to improve his position.

The last critical moment was on the move 62 when both players had feeling it should be winning for White but none of them was able to see the winning continuation 62.Nd7 Rf5 63. Rf8 Kg6 64. Rg8 Kf7 65. Ke4! “I just could not believe it was getting so difficult to win this position. I spent all my time trying to find the way. Of course I missed 65.Ke4,” said Vladimir Kramnik.

Black grabbed the last pawn and White tried but could not convert the rook and knight against rook endgame.

Before the start of the round Dmitry Andreikin tried to concentrate.

Both opponents played solidly and the position remained balanced till the end. Black created an isolated pawn but traded one pair of rooks and obtained the c-file. Evgeny Tomashevsky offered a draw after 29 moves. Both players will cross swords on tie-breaks tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Semifinal - Game 1: Two Draws

Maxime Vachier-Lagraeve, who had white pieces in the first game, made a draw against Vladimir Kramnik.

Most of pieces were traded and the peace was signed after 16 moves. 15 minutes later and two moves earlier the game between two Russian players Dmitri Andreikin and Evgeny Tomashevsky also finished in a draw. The second classical game will start tomorrow at 3 p.m.

In the Russian derby Peter Svidler lost the first game and didn’t manage to even the score in the second. Fabiano Caruana drew with White against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but lost the second game. Three Russian players - Vladimir Kramnik, Dmitry Andreikin and Evgeny Tomashevsky - plus Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, will play in the semi-finals.

Gata Kamsky made a mistake in a drawish endgame and was knocked out. Evgeny Tomashevsky goes through to the semi-finals. The other two matches - Svidler-Andreikin and Caruana-Vachier-Lagrave - will be decided on tie-breaks on the 25th of August.

Tomashevsky and Kamsky left the playing hall quite quickly as the game finished after 16 moves. Peter Svidler drew with Black against Dmitri Andreikin, while Maxime Vachier-Lagraeve, who had white pieces against Faiano Caruana, didn’t manage to convert his material advantage into a full point.

Three matches - Gelfand-Vachier-Lagrave, Svidler-Le and Andreikin-Karjakin were decided in rapid games at the 25 min + 10 sec time control. Dmitry Andreikin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the first games against Sergey Karjakin and Boris Gelfand respectively. Ratings favorites Karjakin and Gelfand didn’t manage to level the score and were knocked out. Peter Svidler defeated Le Quang Liem in the second game after he luckily drew the first. After two draws the Russian derby between Morozevich and Tomashevsky continued and was decided only in blitz.

Kramnik made a draw in the second game of the match and eliminated Vassily Ivanchuk. Granda Zuniga didn’t manage to level the score against Fabiano Caruana. Gata Kamsky drew against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and went through to the quarter-finals. Four matches will be decided by tiebreaks on 22nd of August.Full report here

In the first game of the 4th round Kamsky, Caruana and Kramnik got off to a great start, all winning their games. Kamsky's brilliant win was clearly game of the day!

On the 10th day of competition, only 16 from the original 128 who earned their rights to be in Tromsø still have their sights on the big crown. Any of these elite players is good enough to go all the way. It will be a battle of chess strength, mental toughness, and strong nerves. Interestingly enough, there has never been a repeat winner of the World Cup. This shows how tough this competition is.

Alexander Grischuk lost the first rapid game against Le Quang Liem. He tried hard to level the score but was unable to repeat his success from the day before. Anish Giri was knocked out by Julio Granda Zuniga with a 1.5:0.5 scoreline. Fabiano Caruano was very lucky to win the first game as Malakhov missed a mate. He then also managed to defeat his opponent in the second rapid game. Ratings favorites Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk and Dmitry Andreikin all qualified for the next stage. The youngest participants Wei Yi and Daniil Dubov were eliminated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anton Korobov respectively.

Julio Granda Zuniga equalized the score by defeating Anish Giri. After yesterday's upset Alexander Grischuk played the longest game of the round against Le Quang Liem and managed to equalize the score after 154 moves and 6.5 hours. 10 matches will be decided by tiebreaks on the 19th of August.

The surprise of the day was the victory of Evgeniy Tomashevskiy with the black pieces over top seed Levon Aronian while Vietnamese Le Quang Liem brought down Alexander Grischuk, The winners of the two previous World Cups Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand outplayed Teimur Radjabov and Alexander Moiseenko respectively. Two of the youngest participants of the World Cup, Wei Yi and Daniil Dubov, drew their games against higher rated opponents. Morozevich and Granda Zuniga lost good winning chances in their games.

In the 2nd Round of the FIDE World Cup in Tromso, 15 matches were pushed into the tie-breaks. One of the most successful knock-out players in the world, Ruslan Ponomariov, was eliminated by 17-year-old Russian GM Daniil Dubov. Another surprise exit was Michael Adams losing to Yuriy Kryvoruchko.

In the meantime, most of the favorites managed to win their matches in rapid with 25min+10 sec control. Aronian, Kramnik, Karjakin, Svidler, Mamedjarov didn’t have too many problems to defeat their opponents.

17 matches were decided on the second day of the second round in the FIDE World Cup in Tromso. Caruana, Grischuk, Nakamura, Gelfand, Dominguez, Morozevich, Ivanchuk etc. guaranteed their participation in the next stage.

14-year-old Chinese GM Wei Yi, after his sensational victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi, upset another top player Alexei Shirov. Peruvian GM Grand Zuniga, who won the first game against Peter Leko, managed to make a draw today and eliminated the rating favorite of the match. Alexander Shimanov won a dramatic game against Gata Kamsky and equalized the score. Norvegian Jon Ludvig Hammer made the second draw against David Navara. 15 matches in total will be decided tomorrow on tie-breaks.

14 year old Chinese star Wei Yi (2551) upset Alexei Shirov (2696) with a comfortable draw as black, while Isan Ortiz Suarez from Cuba suddenly lost to French Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a position with a huge advantage. Alexander Morozevich blundered in a winning position but his opponent Rafael Leitao didn't see the winning shot and instead lost. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov didn’t convert a huge advantage against Maxim Matlakov, while Wang Hao got a three-time repetition in lost position.

The third day of the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø is over and all the results of the first round are in. After two days 36 matches out of 64 had been decided. The remaining 28 matches continued with playoffs.

According to the regulations of the World Cup tiebreaks two rapid games are played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move.

If the score is still tied two accelerated rapid games are played with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still deadlocked two blitz games are then played at 5 min + 3 sec.

Finally, if a winner has still not been determined a sudden death Armageddon game takes place with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black with a 2 sec increment after move 60. In that game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn).

15 players were eliminated after two rapid games. In general, the favorites won their matches: Peter Svidler, Michael Adams, Alexander Morozevich, Dmitry Andreikin, Anton Korobov, Jobava Baadur and Alexei Dreev all went through to the next round.

At the same time a few of the rating favorites were unexpectedly knocked out of the World Cup at this stage.

Norwegian player GM Hammer defeated Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian (pictured above) in the first game of the playoff and drew the second game, thus eliminating his more experienced opponent from the FIDE World Cup.

Not an easy match for Gata Kamsky, who only managed to win the fifth game against Chinese IM Lou Yiping.

Hou Yifan and Alexei Shirov exchanged victories in rapid and continued their match. The Latvian player proved to be stronger at the 10 min + 10 sec time control. Despite the final outcome, the former Women’s World Champion showed great play in the event.

After two draws in the classical games Azeri GM Teimour Radjabov struggled against GM Jorge Cori (Peru) in rapid – each won a game. The spectators were waiting for an exciting continuation at the 10 min+10 sec time control.

Surprisingly, Cori didn’t appear in time for the first game. One second after the start of the round, Teimour Radjabov stopped the clock, signed the score sheet and left the playing hall, while Jorge Cori was running to the playing hall.

Using the advantage of the white pieces the Azeri player didn’t have any problem drawing the second game. After the end of the match GM Cori from Peru made an appeal. The decision of the Appeals Committee has been published here on the official website.

00-00 on the clock and Jorge Cori is not in the playing hall

A little less than 2 minutes later Cori came to the playing hall and tried to explain what had happened.

An unfortunate day for Russian GM Alexander Riazantsev, who lost against Argentinian GM Ruben Felgaer.

Four matches remained to be decided in blitz. Two Russian GMs Zvjaginsev and Alekseev were defeated by Polish GM Swiercz and Indian GM Adhiban respectively, while players on the two remaining boards reached Armageddon games.

Many participants of the tournament and spectators came to watch the matches Tomashevsky versus Ramirez and Melkumyan versus Granda Zuniga in the playing hall. Playing White Evgeny Tomashevsky defeated his opponent and Granda Zuniga, who played with Black and just needed to make a draw to advance, also managed to win.

The second round of the FIDE World Cup starts at 3 p.m. local time on 14th of August. 64 participants will continue playing but as before only half of them will advance to the next stage.

Just as in the first day, there were plenty of fireworks on the second day in the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø. Thirteen players won their matches with a 2-0 score (except Alexander Moiseenko, whose opponent could not come to Tromsø).

While some victories with impressive results could be expected from top players such as Aronian, Kramnik, Grischuk, Nakamura and Dominguez, there were also a few 2-0 results produced by players with rating lower than their opponents.

The participants of the upcoming Women’s World Championship match Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina are doing well so far. Anna Ushenina defeated Peter Svidler in his favorite Grunfeld and Hou Yifan drew the second game against Alexei Shirov. The reigning Women’s World Champion and former one will proceed in the playoff stage tomorrow.

The strongest female player in the history of chess, Judit Polgar, lost out on a number of winning chances, drew against Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz and lost the match. 28 matches were not decided after two games in classical control and 56 players will continue to fight at 3 p.m. local time on August 13.

According to the pairings, the favorites in the higher half of the draw met significantly lower rated opponents. The top seeds won their games relatively easily, but there was also a surprising loss by Super GM Alexander Morozevich against Canadian GM Bator Sambuev. American player GM Ray Robson won a beautiful game against higher rated opponent Ukrainian GM Andrey Volokitin. GM Gata Kamsky and GM Michael Adams drew against Chinese players Lou Yiping and Wan Yunguo respectively, while the Chinese derby between Wang Hao and Liu Qingnan also finished in a draw. Playing with Black former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan drew against GM Alexey Shirov.

Susan Polgar and Lawrence Trent working for the live coverage of the FIDE World Cup 2013

The opening ceremony of the FIDE World Cup took place in the University of Tromsø on the 10th of August.

The players and guests were greeted by the Vice Rector of the University of Tromsø Kenneth Ruud, President of the Norwegian Chess Federation Joran Aulin-Janson, Commissioner for Business, Culture and Sports of Tromsø Municipality Jonas Stein (V) and FIDE Treasurer and Executive Director Nigel Freeman.

Chief Arbiter Ignatius Leong then proceeded with the drawing of lots. He invited the top seed of the tournament Levon Aronian from Armenia onto the stage to pick one of the pawns from his pocket. Levon Aronian chose the white pawn and will play the first game of the match against Mikhail Markov from Kyrgyzstan with the white pieces.

Also attending the opening ceremony were FIDE Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici, Director of the FIDE Office in Moscow Berik Balgabaev and other distinguished guests.

128 top participants will start to play at 3 p.m. on the 11th of August in the Scandic Hotel in Tromsø. The tournament has an impressive prize fund of 1.6 million US dollars.

Participants include former World Champions Vladimir Kramnik and Ruslan Ponomariov, Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina, former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan and many other chess stars. The top two players will qualify for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament which will take place in March 2014 and determine the challenger for the World Championship match in 2014.

The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn).